PM firm on fuel excise

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Calls from motoring groups yesterday for the Federal Government
to cut petrol taxes fell on deaf ears, with Prime Minister John
Howard and Treasurer Peter Costello insisting that rising petrol
prices had nothing to do with taxes and blaming the world oil
market.

But RACV spokesman David Cumming said the Government could ease
the petrol price burden on families. "There is something (Mr
Howard) can do - he can lower the excise or he can remove the
excise from the GST," Mr Cumming said.

Australian Automobile Association executive director Lauchlan
McIntosh added his voice to the call.

"We can't keep paying 38 cents a litre and not see it go back
onto roads or back into the community in a much more effective
way," Mr McIntosh said.

Mr Howard said: "The price of petrol is painfully high, I'm
aware of that, but that is the fault of world oil price
fluctuations, it's not because of unreasonably high taxes."

Mr Costello said the excise was already about 12 cents lower
than it would have been had the Government not cut it from 44 cents
in 2000 and scrapped indexation.